particularly busy for Ritchie and his staff. The Secretary of State's office oversaw the November 2008 General Election, in which a record number of votes were cast, a statewide recount in a primary race for the Minnesota Supreme Court, recounts in the general elections contest of several state legislative races, and the disputed and highly publicized U.S. Senate race. The 2008 U.S. Senate race initially had a margin of 206 votes separating incumbent Republican Senator Norm Coleman and Democratic challenger Al Franken, out of almost three million votes cast. The narrow margin in this election mandated a statewide recount of all ballots. The recount was run by the nonpartisan Minnesota Canvassing Board which was chaired by Ritchie, and included Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Eric Magnuson, Minnesota Supreme Court Justice G. Barry Anderson, Ramsey County District Court Chief Judge Kathleen Gearin, and Assistant Chief Judge Edward Cleary. Some conservative commentators accused Ritchie of bias during the Senate recount, saying the fact that he accepted contributions and an endorsement from ACORN during his 2006 campaign compromised his integrity as Secretary of State. Most Minnesotans were generally supportive of Ritchie, the canvassing board, and the way that election and recount were handled, as shown by polls taken at the time and statements from public figures, including Republicans such as Governor Tim Pawlenty and previous Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer. 2012 ballot title naming Minnesota Statute 204D.15, with lineage dating back to 1919, requires the Secretary of State shall provide an "appropriate title" for constitutional amendments. The first proposed constitutional amendment in 2012 required voters to present valid government approved photographic identification; absentee voters be subject to substantially equivalent identity and eligibility verification, in person voters without valid government approved photographic identification would be allowed to submit a provisional ballot which would not be cast until eligibility verification is complete. The legislature gave the amendment the name "Photo identification required for voting." The second constitutional amendment defined marriage as being only between one man and one woman and was named "Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to provide that only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in Minnesota?" by the legislature. Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, fulfilling his statutorial responsibility, provided titles for the constitutional amendments: "Changes to in-person and absentee voting and voter registration; provisional ballots" and "Limiting the status of marriage